A former bike courier accused of mowing down a mother-of-two on his bicycle has denied being a risk-taking thrill-seeker influenced by “dangerous” cycle race videos.

Charlie Alliston, who was 18 at the time of the crash, likened cycling without a front brake on his bike to starring in “alleycat” movies, films of informal races in cities around the world, the Old Bailey heard.

Alliston, now 20, never wore a helmet when he cycled and took to the road on a track bike that had no front brake – thus contravening a legal requirement of which, he told the court, he was unaware.

Under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Duncan Penny QC, Alliston said: “I did not get a kick or enjoyment out of not being safe.”

Alliston was 18 when he collided with Kim Briggs as she crossed Old Street in London on 12 February 2016. The 44-year-old HR consultant, who had been on her lunch break, sustained “catastrophic” head injuries and died in hospital a week later.

Penny questioned Alliston over a tweet he sent in February 2015 that compared cycling without a front brake to being in a “Lucas Brunelle movie”.

Brunelle makes alleycat videos in which he rides around cities including London “doing dangerous stuff” such as weaving in and out of traffic, narrowly avoiding pedestrians and going into bus lanes, the Old Bailey heard.

Alliston denied copying the film-maker or enjoying taking risks. “I wouldn’t say I drove recklessly or at any time dangerously,” he said. “At all times I would know what I’m doing and be completely responsible for my actions. I did not get a kick or enjoyment out of not being safe.”

Alliston, of Bermondsey, south London, denies a charge under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act of causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving. In a legal first, he faces an additional charge of the manslaughter of Briggs, from Lewisham, south-east London.

The court heard that in January 2016, Alliston paid £470 for a secondhand Planet X bicycle worth £700 when new, telling the vendor he used to be a courier and wanted to use it for track cycling.

He said he had worked as a courier for three different companies based in central London for about six to eight months from mid 2015 but, by the time of the collision, he was working for a scaffolding business.

Alliston had taken the bike out on 12 February last year to buy food in Shoreditch for himself and his girlfriend. “I was cycling at a safe and reasonable speed personal to myself,” Alliston told the court. “I was capable at the time of controlling it.”

Alliston said he shouted twice after spotting Briggs. Asked why he did so, the defendant replied: “To make the pedestrian aware of my presence, so they were aware if they were to then cross the road.”

He said he directed a second shout towards Briggs and slowed down as he approached her, while manoeuvring his bike to avoid her.

“After the collision, I just jumped straight back up to my feet, turned around, saw what happened and then went blank,” Alliston said.

Alliston told the court that if he had had a brake, “I wouldn’t have had enough time to pull it. It was a few split seconds prior to the impact, which caused the impact, so a brake at the time wouldn’t have made a difference.”

The trial continues on Friday, when prosecution and defence barristers will give their closing speeches, before the judge, Wendy Joseph QC, sums up the case. She told jurors they would retire to consider their verdicts on Monday.